Fishing village Lokka

The sad tale beneath Lokka Reservoir’s surface

Lokka is one of the largest reservoirs in the EU, and was created by man at the end of the 1960s. Under Lokka was left a huge swamp, Posoaapa, which adventurer Samuli Paulaharju described as shoreless. Small villages also ended up under water. Many families in Sodankylä still bear the emotional scars of having to leave their homes forever to make way for hydropower. Lokka Reservoir was created by damming and flooding out the famous wilderness river, Luiro, which starts right in heart of Sompio.